Stimulating scams

Don't let greed lead you to bigger problems this tax season

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Another tax season, another new tax scam.

If you're among those taxpayers who didn't receive a fiscal stimulus payment in 2008, or you feel you deserved more than you got, this scam is targeted at you: A bogus email sent to unsuspecting taxpayers urging them to download an attached document to claim their stimulus money.

The "attached document" is actually a Web site. It's now been dismantled, but generally such sites ask taxpayers to enter their personal financial information so that scammers can then make off with their money. In other cases, clicking on the link causes malicious software to be downloaded to the victim's computer, allowing the fraudster to either glean information from the computer or harness the machine remotely to send scam emails to others.

Emails and Web sites purporting to be from legitimate companies or government agencies and seeking to separate consumers from their personal data are called phishing scams. The IRS found more than 3,800 Web sites aimed at phishing financial data in the three years ending in October, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which provides independent oversight of IRS activities.

Sometimes these scam emails can fool even the savviest of consumers. For instance, in the recent example, the email message's "reply to" address looks exactly as though it was sent by the IRS (see picture below).

Another worry: Fake "free file" sites. If you're interested in using the free tax software and e-filing offered to some taxpayers by some companies, be sure to go to IRS.gov and click on "free file" from that site. See archived story on scam "free file" sites.

Don't give out personal information in response to an unsolicited call or email.

The IRS will not call or email you with regard to your tax refund or fiscal stimulus payment.

If you want to visit the IRS Web site, enter IRS.gov in your browser window -- don't click on links in emails, as they may take you to a fraudulent site.

If someone contacts you purporting to be from a government agency, hang up and call the agency yourself. The Federal Trade Commission lists telephone numbers and contact information for various agencies in a recent consumer alert. See this FTC page for more information.

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